Souvenirs of Fate
by serafina19
Summary: Not everything in life is easily explained, no matter how much we want it to be. A post-"Denial" one-shot.


**Souvenirs of Fate**

Artemis had been on her way to the training room when her eye caught Wally placing the Helmet of Fate on the shelf, marking his newest mission souvenir. He stepped back, looking at it, which confused her, especially considering how he felt about the mystic arts, unless he was trying to impress M'gann that is.

Announcing her presence by clearing her throat, Artemis then asked calmly, "You never said what happened to you when you put on the helmet."

She had expected clarity, or a little admittance, but in true Wally style, he began his scientific explanation with no hesitation, a random set of theories, probably done so Artemis couldn't call him on his bullshit.

"Wait, you're still claiming there's no such thing as magic?" Her expression got harsher with a light scoff, adding, "If that's how you feel, why keep it at all?"

He looked up at it quickly, then peered in her direction, and replied lightly, "Souvenir."

"Geek." It was the only explanation, as she couldn't understand how anyone else could be so nonchalant about what happened, so she turned and left the room.

She heard him invite M'gann to a magic show within a minute, and she couldn't resist rolling her eyes. Not that she cared about his lack of luck in the women department, but seriously, she wanted him to give it a rest. At some point, he had to see the pointlessness of it, right?

Turning around, she walked back towards the now-abandoned doorway and stared at the shelf of silly souvenirs he kept, or at least, they seemed silly. The more she looked at them, the more she realized that they were also memories. And not just his... hers too.

One of them was her arrow, and Artemis couldn't help but feel surprised that he kept it up there. As far as she was concerned, Wally kept his distance, but he apparently admired the fact she saved their butts, and for some reason, she couldn't help but smile. While Artemis wasn't exactly looking for friends, she had hoped to convince everyone of her professional ethics, and if Wally could appreciate that, well then, it was a step in the right direction.

Trailing her finger down the nock of the arrow, Artemis' face soured when she saw the next souvenir: her sister's mask. That was just an unexpected fragment of the secret she hid from the entire team, the identity which couldn't be revealed. It's not like she missed her sister, Artemis just froze in the moment she saw her, because it wasn't like she expected to see her again. She always said that she'd disappear like the Cheshire cat, and now it was her moniker, go figure. Every girl for themselves, she told Artemis, but that wasn't true. She _abandoned_ her family, no better than their good-for-nothing father, forcing Artemis to take care of their mother.

She wanted to slam down the mask in frustration, but instead she put it back, fingers unleashing their stress afterwards as she held the shelf. Then, there was the helmet of Nabu, and as much as she was bothering Wally about it... what was her thoughts on the helmet itself?

Was it _fate _that brought her here? Was this how she was destined to better her life, while her sister played on the other side? Would the team even accept her if they found out the entire truth? This helmet held all the answers for her, but the consequences of putting it on wasn't exactly something she wanted to risk.

"I wouldn't recommend putting it on."

"Wasn't planning on it," she replied, not acknowledging Wally's re-appearance in the room as she continued to stare at the gold helmet. She took a breath and added a snicker before saying, "M'gann shot you down?"

Wally was tempted to stick his tongue at her, but thought better of it, and decided to lean against the doorway instead. "No thanks to your oh-so-subtle blow to my cover."

That comment got her attention, as Artemis scoffed before finally peering in his direction. "Please, I think she could figure it out by herself."

Wally took that as an opportunity to point at the helmet and see her opinion of the so-called mystic arts. "Just like you're _not_ figuring out how that works."

"Who said I wanted to know?" Artemis said, or rather, snapped. She was surprised at how harsh her voice sounded in front of Wally in that moment, but she dialled it back a couple notches before slyly adding, "Some people don't mind a little mystery in the world."

_Fair enough_, Wally thought to himself, but he wasn't letting her off that easily. She had asked, walked away, and then came back. There was some reason she was brought back here, and while Wally knew he couldn't ask her directly, he tried a different approach. "Then why ask me what I thought?"

Artemis moved the helmet around in her hands, trying to find the best words to answer the question. "Because I thought maybe there was a chance that the experience would change your mind." After that, she merely laughed at the idea of actually believing Wally would do such a thing. "But who am I kidding?" Stopping in front of him, Artemis shoved the helmet towards Wally before adding, "You're too busy trying to impressing M'gann to accept what really happened."

She got a step in front of him, just barely enough to conceal her face before she felt Wally grab her arm. If she was speaking honestly, she hadn't expected the contact in any way, shape or form, nor the comment that followed. "I think some of that green is coming off your costume."

Artemis rolled her eyes immediately, even though she was still facing away from Wally. "Keep dreaming Kid, only you would come up with that conclusion." Not bothering to look back, she pulled away and began to walk down the hallway. "I've got some training to do."

Wally was about to fire back a comment when he retracted the helmet from his chest and found himself staring at it, Kent Nelson's words coming back to him again.

"_Find your own little spitfire, one that won't let you get anyway with nothing."_

Narrowing his eyes, Wally looked back up again, just in time to see Artemis turn the corner. Time was taken to consider the idea, but he laughed a single time before placing the helmet back in his rightful place. Nelson, Dr. Fate, they may have the answers for some things, but that was one thing that made _no _logical sense.

**~End~**


End file.
